Flooding in low-lying areas has long been a problem that results in extensive damage and destruction of buildings and utility installations, often costing in the tens of millions of dollars per location/occurrence. As a result, there have been many attempts to construct both permanent and temporary flood containment devices from the stacking of sandbags to permanent retaining walls. The following patents and patent publications, all of which are incorporated herein by reference, relate to examples of retaining walls:
Pat./Publication No.InventorIssue/Publication Date5,645,373JenkinsJul. 8, 19975,993,113DarlingNov. 30, 19996,029,405WoodFeb. 29, 20007,552,565SmithJun. 30, 20097,976,240MunJul. 12, 20118,001,735FisherAug. 23, 20112014/0109482RakhmaninApr. 24, 20143,975,915HawAug. 24, 19765,470,177HughesNov. 28, 19956,079,904TrislJun. 27, 20006,354,762MuramatsuMar. 12, 20028,313,265TaylorNov. 20, 20138,858,120Allen et al.Oct. 14, 20149,004,815TaylorApr. 14, 20152004/0098937Blake et al.May 27, 2004
While there have been many attempts to solve the flooding issue, there still remains a need for a safe and effective flood barrier, which is easy to install and maintain.